The gazes of all my classmates were pinned on me.
Heh, this feeling brings back memories.
It really made me feel like I was back in the classroom.
"H-Hey! Hurry up and explain yourself!"
"……Calm down."
"Guh, you're way too calm!"
For a second, I wondered what on earth this was all about, but right—now that I thought about it, Nakina, Shinonome, and Sakura were gyarus who practically represented the class's popular crowd.
Well, there was one gloomy creature mixed in who didn't quite fit the sunny, outgoing vibe.
When it came to light that I was on a first-name basis with those three, had exchanged contact info, and had skipped school to spend an entire week together with them, naturally things would turn out like this.
What was more, the guy in question was the single most hated boy in the entire class.
Hmm, this was quite a tangled mess.
As I hesitated over how to clear up this misunderstanding, I realized a certain truth.
"If I recall……you're Akiyoshi, right?"
"Y-Yeah!"
"As for my relationship with them……"
"……Gulp."
"It's just as you're imagining."
"Pfft—!"
Disgusting.
His spit flew all the way over here.
"Wh-Wh-What the hell are you saying?! Just as I'm imagining?! There's no way in hell!"
"Weren't you suspecting that Nakina and the others got close to me and we spent our days off together?"
"……Well, yeah, but."
"Then you're spot on, aren't you?"
"Guh."
Yes, when I really thought about it, there wasn't the slightest bit of misunderstanding.
If anything, every single one of them had confessed to me, and I had even been Sakura's boyfriend for about a week.
"Why the hell did things turn out like that?!"
"Am I under any obligation to tell you?"
"Y-You bastard……"
Sharing details from my side would be an invasion of their privacy, after all.
If he wanted the specifics, he'd have to ask them, not me.
Well, from what I remembered, Akiyoshi was the guy who had found it especially entertaining during Shinonome's scandal, deliberately watching those social media videos right in the middle of the classroom. So Nakina and the others probably hated his guts, making that pretty difficult.
Besides, it wouldn't do for things to get blown any further out of proportion on my end, either.
It would only lead to more annoying entanglements.
I sent a glance toward the girls.
Hoping we could settle this peacefully, if possible.
In response, looking as if she had found the perfect opening, Sakura flashed a radiant grin and gave a thumbs-up.
"That's right, that's totally it! Look, you guys all know I'm head over heels for my darling, right?! Turns out, that was actually Subaru all along!"
"!?"
"And so, I confessed, but he turned me down. On top of that, Nakina and Shii-chan even said they like Subaru too!"
"!?!??!?"
"Which means, from here on out, we might be besties, but we're also rivals fighting over Subaru! Think you guys get the picture now?"
I went ahead and explained the whole thing for you, Sakura seemed to say, shooting me a self-satisfied wink.
Lately, I had started adopting a certain mindset:
Expecting anything reasonable from Sakura was a mistake to begin with.
It was my fault for not coordinating our stories beforehand.
So, I simply gave her a small nod.
◇
Rumors certainly spread fast.
Walking down the hallway after noon, I was met with murderous glares from the boys of other classes.
However, whether it was because they knew how uncool it would be to complain openly, though they pried with their eyes, none of them actually picked a fight.
After all, there wasn't a single lie in what had been said.
If they were to throw a tantrum over this, it would be no different from whining, "I want to be liked by them too, it's not fair that you're the only one," and making fools of themselves.
At any rate, the most those guys could do was badmouth me on social media.
Calling me a closet man-whore.
Or claiming I had dirt on the gyarus and was keeping them as my harem.
They were the same bunch who had ganged up to cast stones when Shinonome was ostracized.
It wouldn't be surprising in the least if they went that far without batting an eye.
The only difference from Shinonome's case was that I barely looked at social media, and I had already been an outcast in class from the very start.
In other words, no matter what they did, I took zero damage.
If they ever tried to inflict physical damage, I would simply make them walk the same path as Katsurama.
They were already in checkmate.
"Hey, Hatsukade, did those three really confess to you?"
"……Yeah. What about it?"
As I walked down the hallway, I was cornered by a trio of female classmates.
Yes, it was that group of girls who had relentlessly talked behind Shinonome's back.
The name of the girl who called out to me was Suzuki, if I remembered correctly?
"Wh-What do you mean, 'what about it'……"
Suzuki's face twitched slightly, but she immediately pasted on a fake smile and adopted a friendly tone.
"I still can't believe it, but well, since they've admitted it themselves, there's no real way to deny it. But leaving that aside, you really ought to steer clear of Shinonome."
"May I ask why?"
"Isn't it obvious? Her personality is complete trash. Right, don't you guys think so too?"
As if on cue, the girls chimed in with cheerful excitement.
"Yeah, that's just not it. The only reason she's going after Hatsukade anyway is probably because Nakina and Sakura like him, so she wants in on the action too, right?"
"Totally get it. Like, jumping on the trend just because. You know the type—the kind of girl who flirts with whoever's getting attention even when she doesn't actually like them."
"She was just rejected by Masanori-kun, so she moved on way too fast. That just proves she'll go after literally anyone. If she really liked Masanori-kun, there's no way she could jump straight to Hatsukade."
Feeling a strange sense of admiration, I gave a small nod of comprehension.
"That's very informative."
When I said that, their faces lit up with smiles.
"Right? Look at that, Hatsukade, you're surprisingly easy to talk to."
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it! So yeah, stop hanging out with someone like Shinonome. We're telling you this for your own good, you know? Dealing with a scheming girl who's fallen so low is just a total waste of time."
"If you all say so, then it must be true. The resolution on your insight is truly remarkable."
"Aw, don't praise us so much."
"I suppose birds of a feather really do see right through each other, huh?"
"……Huh?"
"After all, if you stripped away Shinonome's cuteness, she'd turn out just like you guys. I believe they call this mutual self-loathing, right?"
To the girls, who were left utterly speechless with their smiles still frozen on their faces, I offered a subtle grin of my own.
"Come on, let's hear it. Tell me more opinions from girls who are ugly and have fallen so low."
"……!"
A sound like the air fracturing seemed to snap through the space.
Glancing up, I noticed Shinonome, bright red in the face, who happened to be passing by, so I gave her a light wave.